iPolitics AM: Team Trudeau descends on UN General Assembly

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognizes a journalist as he takes an additional question during a news conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, Thursday September 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

ALSO TODAY: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Northern Ontario — New Brunswick heads to the polls

For the third year in a row, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to lead his government’s official delegation to the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, which gets underway in New York City later today, and where, as per his office, he and a full contingent of senior ministers will spend the next three days touting Canada’s efforts to promote gender equality, economic growth and a “more peaceful and secure world,” as well as working the crowd as part of their continuing campaign to secure a temporary seat on the powerful Security Council during the next round of elections in 2021.

Getting Canada back on the Security Council was, after all, a central pledge in the Liberals’ 2015 election platform and, as Canadian Press reports, they’ve already spent more than $500,000 attempting to fulfill it since taking office, although that’s actually on the low side for such endeavors, at least when compared to Canada’s last successful bid for a two-year term on the central body in 1999, which cost nearly $2 million.

According to the daily itinerary provided by his office, Trudeau will kick off his three-day stint in New York with a morning appearance at the official opening of the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, where he’s also slated to speak this afternoon, as well as a closed-door chat with Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli.

Later this afternoon, he’s expected to attend a high-level session on international financing to support the 2030 sustainable development agenda and hold a private meeting with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

He’ll wrap up his first day on the international diplomatic circuit by hosting a leaders’ roundtable that will, according to his office, focus on “how to best take the historic commitment” made at the G7 summit in Charlevoix, which, it notes, “mobilized $3.8 billion in resources” to “advance education for women and girls in fragile, conflict, and crisis situation.”

As for his unofficial agenda, speaking with reporters on Sunday, Trudeau confirmed that, while as yet, no formal meetings are planned, the ongoing efforts to renegotiate a cross-continental trade pact may well come up over the next few days.

“Certainly the fact that many of our negotiators, many of our teams, will be in New York at the same time [means] it’s very likely that conversations continue in a constructive but less formal way,” he noted.

Back in Canada, meanwhile, New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh is midway through a four-day tour of Northern Ontario that will take him to Grassy Narrows today, where he’s booked in for a lunch with local community leaders and a “meeting with primary school students” at the local public school. He’ll also get a briefing on mercury from the environmental health team at the Grassy Narrows band council.

In Ottawa, public servants are being advised to work from home in the aftermath of last week’s tornado in order to “minimize unnecessary commuting,” as per a Sunday afternoon tweet from Treasury Board. According to city officials, hundreds of traffic lights are still out of service, and road and hydro crews are still working to restore power to some regions.

Finally, New Brunswickers are headed to the polls, which is, at least at press time, widely expected to result in re-election for incumbent premier Brian Gallant’s Liberals, although very possibly with a reduced minority.